Gerry Wallace and his crew came over for a full all day push to install the simple steel frame over our back patio today. We've had this in the works since early on in the design process, as the west facing walls of our house take on brutal amounts of solar gain during the summer months. Instead of huge overhangs or individual shading devices for each opening, we decided that a nice seasonal shading device would be more appropriate.

Our large sliding door openings are low-e and have triple pane glass, however, glare is still a problem, so instead of lowering the indoor blinds, we can have this nice canopy covering the entire patio space.

During the winter months we can take down the solar fabric and get the direct sunlight when we need it (or want it).

The swing frame attaches to the garage and provides a nice spot for the kids to play - they refer to the area as their hideout.

Jerimo
came over to install the railings the other day. The powder coating
took a little longer than we anticipated, but it looks good. We
installed the railings before the flooring because of a fastening
detail - the balusters attach to the stringers underneath the stairs so
that all the connections and fasteners are hidden.

We
found some solid bamboo accessories from Four Winds Bamboo up in
Boulder - a nicely crafted horizontal handrail precut and
pre-finger-jointed. This will be cut out as a cap for the top
handrail. We also purchased flat floor registers from them.

Jerimo and his wife, Carmen, came over and temporarily set the railing
for us yesterday. They made some adjustments and we got to review it
before it goes out for the powder coat painting. We’re really happy
with how it is turning out. There will be a top wood cap for the
handrail function after the installation is done.